City of Basketball Love

By Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito) +
Sean McBryan (@SeanMcBryan)
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MANHEIM, Pa. — For the second-straight weekend, a small army of high school players showing off their skills once again converged on Spooky Nook Sports before myriad college coaches sitting courtside. The Hoop Group Summer Finale offered another chance to prospective college recruits playing for nothing more than to show what they can do.

Here’s Pt. 1 of our recruiting coverage from the weekend, focusing on Philly-area prospects:

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Kai Shinholster (2025 | K-Low Elite 3SSB 17U)
Shinholster’s most recent offers have come from Minnesota, La Salle and James Madison in July with Boston U and Fairfield offering in June. That added to a list of offers from Saint Louis, Temple, St. Joe’s, Radford, Drexel, Penn, and Mississippi State.

“A few schools have entered my recruiting process in July like Minnesota and Northern Kentucky,” he said.

Penn Charter’s 6-5 guard said he’s planning visits to James Madison and Minnesota and is getting on Boston U’s campus sometime in August.

“I’m trying to find a school that’s a little bit like my high school,” said Shinholster, who is interested in the business field. “Penn Charter has a great balance of athletics and academics and the people there want to see you succeed and get better. That’s the type of environment I’m looking for.”

Shinholster’s length and reach give him many positives on the court, but he’s looking to continue adding muscle throughout the summer before he starts his senior season.

He said he’s going to narrow down his college decision within the next few weeks and will likely know where he’s going to commit before the high school season starts.

“I don’t really have a timeline,” Shinholster said. “It’s all up in there air, but I know I want to try and have a good idea of where I’m going to go by September. I want to make a decision before the high school season.”

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Devin Booker (2025 | K-Low Elite 17U 3SSB) 

Booker has received offers from Duquesne, George Mason, High Point and Penn. It is a growing list that may grow more for the lithe 6-foot-5 rising senior wing from Cristo Rey with the 3.6 GPA. 

Projected to be a two or three at the college level, Booker was a big reason K-Low Elite outlasted NJ Beasts U17 HGSL on Saturday, 68-54, dropping 14 points. He played scrappy defense and was a matchup nightmare. He outdueled any smaller player that guarded him and was too fast for the larger players who tried to keep up. You could see why college scouts like his game.

This summer, Booker wanted to hone his ballhandling and dribbling with pressure.

As to where his future may lie, “I would think about staying home for college, if it was the best opportunity for me, but I really want to go away somewhere other than Philly,” Booker said. “It is a personal thing, go somewhere outside of Philly, because I have been there my whole life. I would like to go to a new environment. It goes along with this summer. I wanted to work on being a better player, meet new people and make new connections.”

Last summer, Booker was 160 pounds. One of his main motivations over the last year as getting in the weight room. He was going to Cristo Rey at 5 in the morning to train, adding close to 20 pounds of muscle in a year, blowing up 180 pounds this summer.

“I added 30 pounds to my bench press and I do feel more explosive,” Booker said. “Tournaments like this have helped me, because it makes me a better leader on the floor. There is no pressure on you, I don’t feel, in tournaments like this. I’m here to play and show what I have.” — Joseph Santoliquito

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Brandon Russell (2025 | NJ Beasts 17U HGSL)

The 6-5 guard from Archbishop Ryan has had a productive summer with NJ Beasts on the Hoop Group Showcase League circuit and it culminated in his first offer from Division II Georgian Court on July 18.

“It felt good,” Russell said after he had 15 points, seven rebounds, and six assists for NJ Beasts in a victory Friday evening. “It was relieving. Finally someone recognized [my hard work]. I was very appreciative.”

Russell said Georgian Court watched him at Philly Live and Hoop Group’s Summer Jam Fest and saw enough to offer him.

He said he’s been most frequently in contact with Wagner, Towson, St. Francis, and Hampton.

“I’d love to play in the CAA or Patriot League,” Russell said. “That’s just a goal of mine. Anything at the next level would really be great.”

Russell heads into his senior season with the Raiders, who are still searching for their first-ever Catholic League title after falling on a buzzer-beater to Roman Catholic in the championship last season.

Ryan graduated a loaded senior class led by Thomas Sorber (Georgetown) and Darren Williams (Florida Gulf Coast) so Russell will have a big spike in responsibility. The Raiders top five scorers a season ago were all seniors with Sorber, Williams, Jaden Murray, Ryan Everett, and Rocco Morabito topping the list.

Russell was sixth.

“Last year at Ryan I was coming off the bench so it’s good to show what I can really do [in an increased role during AAU],” he said. “I learned a lot from [the seniors] and think I’m prepared to lead without them.”

Russell said he wants to work on becoming a more consistent shooter, improve his ball handling, and work on facilitating for others throughout the rest of the summer and into his senior year. — Sean McBryan

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KJ Cochran (2025 | K-Low Elite 3SSB 17U)
Cochran has been continuously working at his game and body ever since he was a slender underclassman at West Chester East. 

Now a strong 6-4 with the same basketball IQ and intangibles, it’s not a surprise the Division I offers and interest keeps rolling in.

“I’ve been talking to Santa Clara, who was here today,” Cochran said after he scored 23 points in a win over NJ Beast Saturday morning. “Boise State, Duquesne obviously, Loyola Chicago. There’s been a couple in the mix that want me to take visits. As soon as this AAU season is over I’ll sit down with my family and schedule some.

“It’s going to be packed full. They want me to visit when students are on campus. Boise State in particular wanted me to come for a football game. Santa Clara wants me to come out to Cali.”

While Cochran hasn’t taken any visits yet, his most recent offers were from Duquesne last Friday and Rhode Island last Tuesday. He also holds offers from Penn, Fairfield, George Mason, George Washington, Manhattan, Mississippi State, Towson, Kent State, Drexel, Temple, and St. Joe’s.

“I’m looking for a family atmosphere that’s going to grow,” he said. “I want something that's going to help me develop and grow as a person.”

Cochran wants to get his ball handling a little tighter and continue getting leaner as he enters his final season of high school basketball with the Perkiomen School. 

“I have gotten bigger,” Cochran said. “Last year I was out with an injury. It’s just about getting into better shape and making sure I’m explosive.”

In terms of making a decision on his college, he said he doesn’t have a timeline or frontrunner and is going with the flow as he starts to schedule visits.

“I’m just going to take every school as an opportunity and individually,” he said. “After I take my visits I will start to narrow it down.” — Sean McBryan

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Quick Hits
—  Olin Chamberlain was on the down end of Devin Booker and K-Low Elite’s 68-54 win over NJ Beasts U17 HGSL on Saturday. Otherwise, the rising 6-foot senior St. Joe’s Prep point guard has had a productive summer. He wanted to work on his defense and becoming more of a vocal leader, bringing his team together and orchestrating traffic. He did a great job of that against K-Low Elite. He has not received any college offers yet, though he is getting interest from Penn, Brown, Lehigh and Cornell. He carries a 3.2 GPA, which is like a 3.8 anywhere else.

 “I appreciate the college coaches hitting me up, but I am not in a big rush to make a commitment,” said Chamberlain, who averaged 13.5 points a game last season. “This time last year, I may have weighed around 160, and I am about 175 now. Prep has always had a weight training program and I know playing at the next level, I will need to put on more muscle. 

“We have three starters back (on Prep): Myself, Jordan Ellerbee and Jaron McKie. I can’t wait for my senior year. I believe we have the three best guards in the city. We have a chance this year with the returning seniors. We lost in the Catholic League quarterfinals my sophomore year to (Archbishop) Wood to go to the Palestra. Last year, we lost to (Archbishop) Ryan in the quarters to go to the Palestra. We have never been to the Palestra. This is our due time right now. The leadership and togetherness we have as a team with our three guards, there is definitely something there.” — Joseph Santoliquito

—  It may be easy to lose Antwone George among K-Low Elite’s stars Booker and KJ Cochran, though the 6-foot-2 rising senior point guard from Conwell-Egan may have helped himself considerably by a show of explosiveness in K-Low’s 66-46 victory over Crown. K-Low had a substantial lead through parts of the first half. But when Crown got within 41-38, George took over. He scored eight of K-Low’s next 12 points in putting more distance on Crown, before finishing with 10 points. He was explosive and scored most of his points by simply beating every player down the floor for easy layups. George will be a four-year starter for Conwell-Egan this coming season. He has not received any offers yet. 

“The summer has gone well, putting the work in every day,” George said. “I wanted to work on my ballhandling and my shot. I wanted to work more on free throw shooting and getting more to the paint. I got the green light to shoot since my sophomore year. I’m not going to lie, though, I haven’t used it a lot. My coaches tell me to attack more.” 

Chris Harris, K-Low’s U17 coach, cut George last year. George came back this year. 

“I cut Antwone last summer and he came back, and that says the kid is super tough,” Harris said. “He is super humble. Antwone is a hidden gem. He just needs some exposure. This team has been together for three years and they have really adopted him. They love him to death. He is Devin Booker’s nightmare, for as good as he is. He has a tough time scoring one-on-one on Antwone every day in practice. Any college that gets Antwone, they will be getting a great program kid whose better basketball days are ahead of him.” — Joseph Santoliquito

—  Matt McCarthy, Episcopal Academy’s rising 6-foot-3 senior point guard who is playing for East Coast Power HGSL, just received his first college offer from an Episcopal grad, Florida Gulf Coast head coach Pat Chambers. McCarthy, who is also talking to Penn, Lafayette and Army, may have stirred additional interest by his performance on Saturday in a 70-69 loss to a very good New York Whiz Kids team, dropping a team-high 14 points. What went unnoticed on the stat chart are the two charges that he took. 

“I would say this was my first year being a true point guard, and that will probably be my role in college. So being able to play the two-man game, reading the pick-and-role, that was big to work on this summer,” said McCarthy, who averaged 15 points and 5 assists a game last season and carries a 3.5 GPA. “I want to expand my range off the dribble and hit more difficult shots off the dribble. East Coast Power is a great group and we run a structured offense. I want to show that I can compete at a high level. I’m pretty happy with how the summer has gone. The offer from FGC was great. It told me all the hard work is paying off. I would like to decide on a college before my high school season begins.” — Joseph Santoliquito

— Zamir Parker-Barnes (2025 I PA Hoops Academy HGSL) picked up his first Division I offer coming out of Philly Live I from Stonehill University; he said Stonehill is still in touch, adding that Maine, New Hampshire and Hofstra had also reached out during the July live periods. The Abington Friends rising senior hoping to make a collegiate decision by September, he said, but that will depend upon his options at that point in the recruiting cycle; Parker-Barnes is one of many rising seniors whose recruitment has been slowed by the proliferation of the transfer portal and the new era of college basketball.

“Coaches say they are very interested in me,” he said, “so I hope to have that translate into offers coming out of this weekend.”